Acceptability-Oriented Computing

Abstract

We discuss a new approach to the construction of software systems. Instead of attempting to build a system that is as free of errors as possible, the designer instead identifies key properties that the execution must satisfy to be acceptable to its users. Together, these properties define the acceptability envelope of the system: the region that it must stay within to remain acceptable. The developer then augments the system with a layered set of components, each of which enforces one of the acceptability properties. The potential advantages of this approach include more flexible, resilient systems that recover from errors and behave acceptably across a wide range of operating environments, an appropriately prioritized investment of engineering resources, and the ability to productively incorporate unreliable components into the final software system.